The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, February 2, 1896, Page 21

THE SAN f‘RANCfSCO CALL, SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 1896. GLISH BOOK. N these days of diseased and morbid fiction it is exceedingly pleasant to discover here and there a writer whose morals are sound and who is blessed with a w. 10lesome instinet of the pen a vear since “The Golden Age” by Kenneth Grahame, was pub- lished in this country, and so far as a formed me it has never become *‘popular” in this country— a fact not to be wondered at when we co! sider the fir rt with which the book has been constructed. It is written by a man who while he writes occupies a & point of view, and it perfectly achie its purpose in present- ing the stupidity of grown-ups and the as well as the sordid children. The chap- te a series of pictures and is surpassingly delightful we can y see beneath it into still depths where the sadder and harder lessons and | errors of are read. The author calls the grown-up folk of his boyhood environ- ment “Olympians.” and his prologue has this to say of them: Looking back to those old days, ere the gate hut to behind me, I can see now that to chil- proper equipment of parents these have worn a different aspect. I » uncles and e of mind may be al- enough as 1o e needs of the flesh, but after that 1 h indif an i ze, the result of a ce erewith ar child ber realiz ily way th u uenea in the D me, as in the case of Caliban ujc a ruling power, wil! lo, e pr s0,” as, over capabie to cres tures, reasonably t these when _ have them, it might been These es over of childhood, and while the | eated us, indeed, with kinduess ( hopdiess | given | € L elders, | seen a sight so wonderful and inspiring ¥ & trick of chanee, commanded | “Down the road they came, two and two | Boy will not bring a shudder in anticipa- tion of the experienaces which “The Golden | Age’’ reveals. However droll are the | creations of Mark Twain and the happily forgotten Peck, there is a forthright and | brutal coarseness in them that your gentle- man-Englishman ayoids as he wonld leprosy. 1In all the mischievous pranks of e English boys of whom Grahame there is that sound and clean at- phere which che better classes of Great Britain breathe from their infancy. | And that goes to the root of gy things, which we need not pry into here, but ich mean much to the student. No American is as good as an Englishman if ! he prefers what is bad_in American litera- ture to what is good in English; and for the education of American readers it is well that every possible encah{:\gement be given to the American interes | writers, One of the chapters is entitled “Alarums and Excursions.” The author and his brother Harold had just agreed to play | that they were Cavaliers and Roundheads respectively. Buta spirit of unrest -per- | turbed Kenneth, ‘“Instead,” he exclaims {in recounting the incident, ‘‘of active ‘pretense’ with its shouts and perspira- | tion, how much better—I:held—to lie at case and pretend to one’s self, in green and golden famcies, slipping the husk and passing, & careless lounger, throungh a sleepy imaginary world of gold and green!” Presently the combat began. | Then once more in this conntry’s story the | mail-clad knights paced throush the green- wood shaw, questing adventure, redressing wrong; and bandits, five to ome, broke and fled digcomfited to their caves. Once again were damsels rescued, dragons aisemboweled, and giants, in every corner of the orchard, de- ived of their already superfluous number of 0 while Palawmides the Saracen waited for us by the well, and Sir Breuse Pite vanisned in | craven flight ‘before the sk:lled spear that was | his terror and his bane. Onee more the lists were dight in camelot, and all was gay with shimmer of silk and gold; the earth shook with thunder of horses, ash-staves flaw in plinters, and the firmament rang in the sh of sword on helm. While the battle was thus raging it hap- pened that a troop of cavalry came past along the highway: The bo¥vs had never THE AUTOCRAT AND THE CHAFING - DISH. N Wik A\ WY l‘u i ! W ) A [Reproduced from “The Bachelor and the Chafing-Dish.""] no respect, but only a certain blend of envy— | at an easy of their good luck—and plty—for their in- ability to make use of it. Indeed,it was one of the most hopeless features in their charac- ter (when we troubled ourselves to waste a thought upon them, which wasn't often) that, having absolute license to indulge in the leasures of life, they eould get no good of it. ?hey might dabbie in the pond all day, hunt the chickens, climb trees in the most uncom- romising Sunday clothes; they were free to ssue forth and buy gunpowder in_the full eve of the sun—free to fire cannons and explode mines on the lawn; yet they never did any one of these things. No irresistible energy haled them to church o’ Sundays; yet they went there regularly of their own accord, though they betrayed no greater delight in the ex< perience than ourselves. 7 On the whoe the existence of these Olympians seemed to be eatirely void of in- terests, even &s their movements were confined and slow, and their habits stereotyped and senseless. To anything but appearances they were blind. For them the orchard (s place elf-haunted, wonderfull) simply pro- duced so many apples or cherries; or it didn't, when the failures of nature were not infre- quently ascribed to us. They never set foot within® firwood or hazel copse, nor dreamt of the marvels hid- therein. The mysterious sources—sources as of old Nile—that fed the duckpond had no magie for them. They were Unaware of Indians, nor recked they auything Of bisons or of pirates (with pistols!), though ihe whole place swarmed with such portents. & cared not about exploring for mbberl_' “es nor digging for hidden treasure. * * s Weil! The Olympians are all past and gone. hon.tm)w the sun does not seem to shine 50 . ol iy es it used; the trackless mesdows of few Lime heve shrunk and dwindled away to 8 o or eres. A snddening doubt, a dull suse » ver me. Etin Arcadis ego—T (14 once inhabit Arcadia. Can it Ve become an Olympian? L I have made this long extract for two SZ?“OIM. One can pe guessed by -any ‘hi';),:f;:iel“_:ff :‘l':“ be mentioned later in H ; the other is urpose of glving a key 1o the boao\f.m Qe euy tisloved ‘that memories of Tom Saw- be 1, too, i t waik; scarlet flamed in the eye, bits jingled and saddles squeaked delight- fully, while the men, in a halo of dust, smoxed their short clays like the heroes they were. In a swirl of intoxicating glory the troop clinked and elattered by, while we shouted and waved, jumping up and down, and the big, jofly horsemen acknowledged the salute with easy conde- scension.”” Of course the boys, their hearts alrpad(! atlame with the spirit of war, imagined at once that a battle was imminent. Kenneth loftily informed his brother that such must be the fact. “Per- haps,”’ he informs the reader, *I ought to have known better; and yet—. The vigs and poultry, with whom’ we chiefly con- sorted, could instruct us little concerning the peace that in these latter days lapped this seagirt realm. In the schoolroom we were just now dallving with the Wars of the Roses; 2nd did not legends of the countryside inform us how cavaliers had once galloped up and down these verv lanes from their guarters in the village?”’ The boys, snifling the joy of battle, put out after the troop. They followed the soldiers for a time, grievously disappointed and immeasur- ably surprised to observe that they passsd through the village without resistance; and finally, when the lads attempted to make a short cut and head off the troop at a point where they knew a battle must be surely iou;Lht, they became hopelessly lost, ‘and their wretchedness jand desola- tion were complicated with gathering darkness and a coid, drizzling rain, Luckily their family doctor happened along in his carriage and took them in, “Ifevera %:)d emerged. from a machine it was when this heaven-sent friend, recog- nizing us, sto?ped and jumped out with a cheery bail.” When the situation had been explained to him he looked grave, twisted Eis face this way and that, and ver, Huckleberry Finn and Peck’s Bad said: “Well, the fact is there isn’t going s of British | to be any battle to-day. It's b off on aceount of uh{ ehungeeei: f;:l: weather. You will have due notice of the renewal of hostilities. And now you'd b;m:r step in and I'll arive vou home, You've been running-a fine rig! Why. you might have both been taken and shot as spies!” To ihis the author gravely adds: “There are higher things than truth; and we were aliost reconciled by the time we were dropped at our gate to the fact that the battle had been postponed.”’ One of the most charming sketches in the book is entitled “Sawdust and Bin.” It seems evident here that the author has invested his childish recollection of that scandalous occurrence with the profounder observation of a rich adult imagination, But that matters nothing, so exquisite is the art of its teliing and so fine the humor of the conceit. For that matter who can place a limitation on the imagination of a child, especially if he be of the order with which some of us have become familiar? In this sketch little Charlotte, a sister, bas two dolls—one a bnxom English maiden, with stout calves, flaxen hair and remarkably innocent-looking blue eyes, and the other is a slant-eyed Japanese mazle doll. Charlotte is trying to teil them a wonderful stor{ as she props them up against a stump, but an evil design which the Jap evidently has on the English maiden entails all sorts of comical and cmbarrassing banpenings, to the great dis- comfiture of Chariotte’s purpose. I have | intimated that there is a broad dash of in- sincerity in this delicious tale, but I know of nothing finer in its way in the whole range of Knglish literature. These hints must suffice to give an in- { sight into the character of the book. It may have been surmised that the extracts which I have presented were given more for the purpose of analysis than review. No doubt it-has been already discovered by every one of culture who may read this that the English in which the story is told is of a rare and fine sort. Since Steven- son’s death there are precious few who can handle the language with the skill here displayed: Stevenson covered the whole range of the possibilities residing in the language, from the elegance in his essays to the “homespun’’ in *‘The Master of Baliantra Grahame discovers much of | this facility, but he is usnally more direct, with here and there a stronz ruggedness, of which Kipling, above all other living writers, is the master. English is so rich in idiom, and its idioms in themselves are | so styong, that it is good to fina a writer who can handle them so well as Grahanie. * The tendency of Ainerican literature”is to ignore these rich resources of the lan- guage. If our sentences be but smooth and our periods round and resonant—if, | indeed, we but show that’we know some- | thing of Latin and Greek—we are emi- nently content with ourselves, forgetting that the very soul of our langmage is of | Anglo-Saxon birth. English writers still | rest under the old spell, and a blessed thing 1t is; and Kenneth Grabame (if that is hisname) deserves the thanks of every lover of good English for putting forth this happy little book of his. A genera- tion of Americans may yet arise who will be able to appreciate its beauties and draw benefit from its graces. W. C. Morrow. THE STATE. “The State, Its Functions, Its Rights and Its Political Organization,”” is the title of an essay to which a first prize has | been awarded by the American Philotoph- ical Society, held at Philadelphia for the promotion of useful knowledge. The com- mittee of judges awarding the prize was composed of J. Randolph Tucker of Vir- ginia, James C. Carter of New York, George F. Edmunds of Vermont, E, J. Phelps of Connecticut and C. Stuart Pat- terson of Pennsylvania. The author, George H. Smith, is a Californian, a resi- dent of Los Angeles, and in addition to this prize essay is the author of several other works on law and jurisprudence. _The essay is prefaced by an introduction giving a general review of political the- ories advanced by leading thinkers from Aristotle to Austin. From this review the conclusion is drawn that political science in its present state is beyond all others prolific in logical fallacy, Many examples are given of the confusion resulting either from bias or the careless use of such words of vague import as state law, power, sov- ereignty, etc. Mr. Smith himself defines a state as an ‘‘autonomous society of men,” and regards goverzment or political organ- ization, not as an essential element, but as an inseparable accident of the state, A clear distinction is thus made between the Government and the state, and this distinction forms a salient feature in the theory worked out in the book. The state, says Mr. Smith, must be conceivea as censisting of the government and the people. The end and the corresponding function of the state is to promote the happiness or well-being of the people ‘in every respect, but the agencies by which this is elfected are twofold, namely, by government, which is organized force, and without the intervention of government by the natural influence of men upon each other and by voluntary co-operation. Hence the end and corresponding function of government is not co-extensive with that of the state, and a proposition which may be {rue of the one is not necessarily true of the other. The theory thus announced is worked out®ith careful elaboration. The various chapters deal with the nature of the state, the functions of the state generally, the nature'and method of jurisprudence, the doctrine of natural right, the just powers of the state and the principlesof poljtical organization. The work is an impottant contribution to the department of philoso- phy and displays wide reading and exten- sive study of the subject as well as clear thought and marked powers of analytical reasoning. GLORIES OF THE EKAFING-DISH. “The Bachelor and the Chafing-dish” is the title of a book that will readily com- mend itself to ciubmen, and, in fact, to men in general, who, the author says, “‘have an instinctive fondness for meddling with everything appertaining to the art of cookery.” The writer, Deshler Welch, has gathered together in this book some valu- able recipes from fascinating sources in cookery; triumphs of well-known bon yivants in clubs, yachting circles, army and navy, and ‘‘the dreams of fait women, God biess ’em.” Mr. Welch declares that the “most important piece of machinery in woman’s domain is usually relegated to an engineer of faultlessly persuasive ignor- ance. I have partaken of a more elaborate and tnsl{ dmnerlgot up in a yacnt’s small galley than I have ever had from ‘Bridget’s’ great kitchen, with all her con- veniences, and I have attended informal dinners where everything served was cooked directly in front of me on a chaf- ing-dish, with but very littie trouble, that produced a feast worthy of the gods.” He hails the chafing-dish as a “civilizer,”’ and maintains that it is certainly an important factor nowadays in breaking formality and brinfiin people around a festive board under the happiest sort of circumstances. “Its very general use by both men and women, its con- venience for a quick supper or for a dainty luncheon, and 1ts succes as an economical provider where it is necessary—all this is gn‘ui,fng the chafing-dish on a queenly ais. . ‘The author observes that he has hud the pleasure of knowing many. distinguished men_ in various walks of life, and he thinks his most beguiling hoursin their company were when some new culinary “creation” was under discussion. “No man understood the value of a genial host in this respect better than the elder Sothern; nor could any man turn a spit -with more energetic interest than Dion Boucicaunlt. But men’s stomachs have always been their weaknesses, and it has fairly been said that if women wished to control the lords of creation it wasonly necessary to treat them as kindly as they would tlie brute—feed them I”’ [Published by F. Tennyson Neely, New York; for sale by William Doxey.] ; NEW KINDERGARTEN WORK. A new volume of the International Edu- cational Series, containing *“T'he Songs and Music of Friedrich Froebel's Mother Play,” has becn published by D. Appleton & Co., New York. The book will be in- valuable to kindergartens. The songshave been newly translated and furnished with new music prepared and arranged by Susan E. Blow, who says in the preface: “‘The poems in this volume are not literal translations of those in the original | Mother Play, but attempts to cast Froe- bel's ideas into truly poetic form. A few songs have been added in order to develop the thoughts suggested in some of the more important plays, and a series of Wandering Games has been given to illus- trate Froebel’s method of genetic evolution. Since most of the melodies in the orizinal Mother Play have been condemned by competent critics, new music is given in this volume. This music consisis in part of melodies written by composers of ac- knowledged merit and in part of selections from folk songs. A few of the best melo- dies in the original Mother Play have been retained, and, finally, some of the music of Karl Reineke has' been used.” The illus- trations are reproductions from\the well- executed cuts of the Wichard Lange edi- tion, long since out of print and now very difficult to procure. The volume is edited by W. 1. Harris, LL.D. [For sale by Wil- liam Doxey. Cloth covers, $150.] THE FATHER OF THE FOREST. A superb little bouquet of fresh verse by William Watson, whose demogratic inde- pencence and spirit are said to have lost him the poet laureateship of England, has just been issued by Stone & Kimball of Chicago. “The Father of the Forest,” the longest poem of the collection, is an ad- dress to an old yew tree, which is besought to answer such queries as these: 0ld Emperor Yew, fantastic sire, Girt with th guard of dolard kings, What ages hast thou seen retire Into the dus of alien things ? What mighty news hath sormed thy shade, Of armies perished, realms nnmade The poet pictures the thrilling events and historical epochs which have marked the centuriis of the old yew’s existence, from the Roman invasion, and then fan- cies the tree to murmur, as if in response to the questions of his thoughts: Who prates to me of arms and kings, Here in this court of old repose ? Thy babble is of transient things, Broils, and the dust of 100lish blows. hy sounding anuals are at best he witness of & worla’s unrest. Finally the yew, with welcoming eye, sees approaching that millennial condition, wherein Earth, Wise from all the foolish past, Shall peradventure hal at last The advent of that morn divine When nations may as forests grow, Wherein the oak hates not the pine, Nor beeches wish the cedars woe; Bt all, in thelr unlikeness, blend Confederate to one goldeu end— Beauty: the vision whereanto In joy, with pantings from afar, Throngh sound and order, form and hue, Ard mud and clay, and worm and star— Now tonching goal, ow backward hurled, Tolls the Indomitable world. Watson’s verse is nearly all character- ized by strength and richness. He breathes | truth without fear or favor, and crowned beads do not escape their just deserts wh-n he deals with history, past or pres- ent. One of the poems of the new volume WILLIAM WATSON. [Reproduced from “The Father of the Forest.”] ally weakens the moral force and artistic value of his work. [Boston: The Arena Publishing Company. Price $1 25.] A DAUGHTER OF HUMANITY. This is a story by Edgar Maurice Smith dealing with certain phases of the intro- duction of women into mercantile life. The heart of the author has evidently been deeply moved by the struzgles of young women to earn an honest livelihood in our great cities, and some elements of this struggle he has woven into a narrative, which he dedicates to ‘“Every Yure woman struggling to gain an honest livelihood.” That the book is an entirely serious study of a very painful side of life must be con- ceded, but it is not a study that, from the standpoint either of art or utility, should have been made in the form of fistion. Judged by literary standards the work is sufficiently poor to be irritating, a circum- stance which must interfere with its use- fulness. This is a pity, for the world needs much of the information Mr. Smith has gathered and might make use of it were it presented in more legitimate form. [Bos- ton, Mass.: The Arena Publishing Com- pany. Price $125.] 2 OPIE READ’S LATEST NOVEL. “The jucklins,” by Opie Read, is in line witk that author’s best work. It 1s a good, wholesome Southern novel, abound- ing in pathos and humor. Nobody can read the passages relating to old man Jucklin, who had a craze for chicken- fighting, and whenever he got vexed went out and set his two favorite fowls to pick- ing and scratching each other. without | feeling refreshingly amused. His daugh- ter, ‘*Guinea,” is a sweet character that the reader will be certain to admire. Mr. Read himself thinks “The Jucklins” his is dedicated to Henry Norman, the Eng- lish correspondent who created world-wide comment by defending the American side of the Venezuelan controversy in‘a leading British journal. The book also contains that now famous sonnet, “The Turk in Armenia,” in which Watson impeaches England’s inaction while it witnessed the horrible atrocities of the Turks. “The Tomb of Burns” is a brave tribute to the favorite Caledonian bard. Hereis an ex- ample of the stanzas to nature’s poet: With shatterihg ire or withering mirth, He smote each worthless claim o w The barren fig tree cumbering earth He wonld not spare. ‘Through ancient lies of proudest birth He drove his share. ‘Watson has a soft place in his heart for Americans, and it 15 quite possible that his poetry may be more widely admired in_ this country than in the land whose rul- ing power made the poet more popular by its’ frown. [For sale by Willlam Doxey; price, $1 25.] $ HIS PERPETUAL ADORATION, Uhnder this somewhat mystifying title J. F. Flint has written & wholesome and in- teresting picture of soldier life during the last war in this country. The hero, Rob- ert Armstrong, not only fights his coun- try’s battlesat the hiead of his regiment, but wages the “‘warfare that goes on under the skin,” and in this, too, comes out vic- tor. Of the materials afforded by this dual warfare the author ilvel us a readable narrative, which is, however, somewhat maried by bis own attitude toward it, “Why,” he asks in his preface, “should vice eclipse virtue in latter-day art and literature?” The only apparent an- swer to this question is that it does not. There is, unquestionably, much that is weak and vicious and pernicious in modern literature, but there is, on the whole, much.more that is wholesome and true, that makes for literary and artistic righteousness, and Mr. Flint's naive as- sumption, that in putting forth a simple, straightforward story of a man’s battle with and victory over the forces of evil within himself he has given the world someéthing unique, is as untrue as it is ab- surd. Itisan assumption which materi- OLD MAN JUCKLIN’S CHIEF DIVERSION, [Reproduced from Opie Read’s new mnovel.] best work. It is published by Laird & Lee of Chicago. Price, $1. “THE PURPLE COW.” If the author of the ‘Purple Cow" had only known what the English Premier ex- pected of alaureate he might have secured the position. For the benefit of readers who are not familiar with that remarkable pro- duction, we append it, submitting the opinion that 1t is quite as forcible as ‘Jameson’s Ride”: I never saw Taever hope o bee one? But T ean tell you, anyhow, Id rather sce than be one. —Pioneer Press, [The “remarkable production” which the Press quotes appeared first in The Lark, a clever little Eperiodicnl started about a year ago in San Francisco, and soon stogped because the people took it seri- ously!] BLOSSOMS OF THOUGHT. A little volume of desultory musings ex- pressed in prose and verse, by Caroline E. Russell. Much of the thought is helpful, but the verse is mediocre in the extreme. There is more poetry in a good deal of the E‘rou than lies hidden in any of the verse. he entire volume bespeaks a deep relig- ious feeling on the autnor’s part, [l;)osmn a The Arena Publishing Company. Price 75 cents.] . THE FEBRUARY MAGAZINES. McClure’s Magazine takes its first grasp of - the reader’s attention with eight por- traits of Lincoln (several of them very rare), some twenty dther Lincoln pictures, and an account, abounding in vivid per- sonal details of Lincoln’s misfortunes as acountry merchant, of his entrance into the Legisiature, and the beginning of his acquaintance with Douglas, of his work as hisaffliction at her death shortly before the time nY‘pointed for their marriage. The Lee family of Virginia is the subjeet of a series of profusely illustrated articles which will constitute a leading feature in Frank Leslie’s Popular Monthly during the current year. 'Fhe February number contains the initial article of the series, entitled “The Ancestors of General Robert E. Lee, and tho Times in which They Lived,” written by Mrs. Roger A. Pryor, embodying many rare portraits, coats-of- arms, ete. This same February number of Frank Leslie’s also contains beautifully illustrated articles ‘upon ‘A Roman Festa,” by Theodore Tracy; *‘Sardinia,” by Charles Edwardes; “The Social Settle- ment in America,” by Rufus R. Wilson; “West Point,” by Carl J. Becker; “Art Students in Paris”; and stories, sketches and poems by Howard Paul, George Edgar Montgomery, Dr. J. H. Porter, J.gF. Salli- van, Ella Rodman Church, Lena L. Pep- per and other popular contributors. The complete novel in the February issue of Lippincott’s is “Ground-swells,” by Mrs. Jeannette H. Walworth, It is a readable, lively, and *‘up-to-date’’ tale. Dr. Harvey | B. Bashore gives an interesting epitome of the furthest researches of rapid sketch of “The First Days of the World.,” “The Aerial Monasteries of Greece’ are described by Charles Robin- son, James Knapp Reeve writes of *‘What Men Drink.”” “The Child and His Fic- tions” is a_pleasant paper by Elizabeth Ferguson Seat. Frederic M. Bird points out certain “Paralyzers of Style;” some of which are intended to have a precisely op- posite effect, while some are the resnlt of mere carelessness. The poetry of the num- ber 1s by Joseph Wharton, Charles G. D. Roberts and Clinton Scollard. Among the articles of special interest in the Century is oneon **Pope Leo XI1I and His Household,” by Marion Crawford, a rsonal account of the daily lite of the ope, accompanied by portraits and pic- tures from photographs of the Pope’s private apartments taken for this article and not elsewhere accessible, Henry M. Stanley retells ‘“The story of the sta]og~ ment of - Africa.” Captain Alfred T. Mahan, the distingunished naval eritic, contributes the first of several papers on Nelson’s naval victories, dealing with “Nelsen at Cape St. Vincent,” which is illustrated with portraits and ‘diagrams. A paper written before the President’s Venezuelan message, but dealing with the present sitnation, is ‘“The Palmerston Ideal in Diplomacy.” by Edward Mortimer Chapman. A picturesque paper on *‘Cer- tain Worthies and Dames of Old Mary- land” is contributed by Dr.J. W. Palmer (himself a Marylander). It includes por- traits and pictures by Sir Joshua Reynolds, Sir Peter Lely, Charles Wilson Peale, Rem- brandt Peale, Sully and others. An illus- trated paper on Puvis de Chavannes, resident of the Salon of the Champ-de- Mars, derives additional interest from the fact that his decorations for the Boston Library have recently been put in position. The articte is fully illustrated with pic- tures and details of pictures by the artist. geo[or_'y in a 21 The month’s installment of Professor Sioane’s “Life of Napoleon'’ treats of the meeting _of Napoleon, Alexander I of Russia, Frederick Willilam III and Queen Lowsa of Prussa at Tilsit. The illustra- tions are particularly notable. Mrs. Ward’s novel, “Sir Georfi; Tressady,” ives a pathetic glimpse of life in an Eng- h mining town. . Harper's Magazine opens with an at- tractive article on Baltimore by Stephen Bonsal, one of the best known of that city’s younger sons. Caspar W. Whit- ney’s description of his notable journey to the Barren Groundsof British North America grows more interesting as it ad- vances. Theodore Roosevelt furnishesa vivid account of General St. Clair’s ill- starred expedition against the Miami Indians a century ago. The illustrations are furnished by Zogbaum. Poultney Bigelow’s history of “The German Strug- gle for Liberty’” reaches the period of the popular ugrlsmg which led to the over- throw of Napoleon, in spite of the inca- pacity_and cowardice of Frederick Wil« liam III. There are two fine poems, “Peestum,” a sonnet, by John Hay, embel- lished with some very effective yecorations by H. Siddons Mowbray, and “The Ac- knowledgment,” by Miss Guiney, a subtle and . mystical expression of content even with life’s universal tragedy. LITERARY NOTES. There are some beautiful reproductions of various_paintings of Cleopetra in the February Nickell Magazine. An Arabic translation of “Ben-Hur'’ was the last work done by the late Dr. Van Dyck, the American missionary in Syria. Anthony Trotlope in the course of thirty- five years wrote sixty novels and made $350,000 total profit from their sale. To-day his works are almost unread. Rhoda Broughton, the English novelist, is a great laver of roses, and her little old house in an old street in Oxford 1s overrun with climbing roses of all varieties. It took 40,000 copres of Rudyard Kip- ing’s new ‘‘Jungle Book'’ to satisfy the first demand in Americaand England. An- other large edition is now on the presses. Twp Alfreds In one generation born Tha laureateship of England did adorn: But Nature found the first throes so exhausting That after Tennyson she bore an Austin, —Westminster Gazette. A volume of ‘'six dialogues by Anthony Hope will be published by the Messrs. Scribner, under the title of “Comedies of Courtship.” Mr. Murray expects to have the first portion of Gibbon’s unpublished works ready about Easter. The works are being edited by the present Earl of Sheffield, who will also contribute a preface. “The Evolution of Woman” is the title of a book that Mr. Barry McVickar has made for the Mesars. Harper. It is largely illustration, but there is some text, and both illustration and text are said to be very funny. One of the new stories published by D. Appleton & Co. is “A Self-Denying Or- dinance,” by M. Hamilton. It is a love story of considerable interest, and is issued in the Town and County Library, paper covers. Price, 50 cents; for sale by Doxey. Dr. Conan' Doyle has gone as far as the vramids in search of health for his wife. &'hen he got there he was informed b; his proud hotel-keeper that his “Sherloc! Holmes” had been translated into Arabic andissued to the local police as a text- book, a 8ir Edwin Arnold has contributed to the February Forum a delightfully interesting study of the Queen, entitled *‘Victoria, Queen and Empress.” This paperis the first of a series of studies of reigning Euro- pean sovereigns which will appear in fu. ture numbers of the Forum. A forthcoming volume will contain a translation of the memoirs of Bertrand Barere, that notorious member of the com- mittee of public safety who was called by Macaulay the greatest liar, debauchee, coward and brute that ever livad. The memoirs are said to show that Macaulay Was Wrong. 4 The output ot fiction continues un- diminished in England. Among the more interesting announcements in this branch of literature is a very uncommon story, which will shortly "be vpublished by Messrs. Hutchinson & Co. under the title “In a Bilent World.” The authoress has taken for her heroine a deaf and dumb girl. The third and fourth volumes of the “pemoirs of Barras” will be published by the Messrs. Harper in the immediate future— rohuhl{ next month. Another work, the publication of which will be completed at the same time, is G. T. Cur- tis’ “Constitutional History of the United States.” The second volume includes all the material collected by Mr, Curtis dur- ing the last twenty years of his life. Don Estanislao Zeballos, late Minister from the Argentine Republic at Washing- ton, is the author of a number of novels of Indian manners, Paine, Relma, La Din. astia de las Piedras, of essays on the Para- guayan war, of other historical works of value and of two books of travel, the English names of which are “A Visit to the Araucanian Indians” and “The Con- quest of Fifteen Thousand Leagues.” e e R T A e S T NEW TO-DAY. 3 B e A great wholesale firm of manufacturing cloth- iers, owners of their ofm woolen-mills and uflhg at” wholesale throughout the entire West, to-day makes this announcement : “We offer to the public (of San Francisco and - vicinity only) -any single Suit, Overcoat or Pair of Pants, for Man, Boy or Child, at RETAIL, the price to be the same as we charge the retailer—the strictly WHOLESALE PRICE. All our enornous ‘Wholesale Stock‘, occupying five floors, to choose from. The saving to the purchaser amounts to ONE-HALF.” . ‘BROWN BROS. & CO., 121-123 Sansome Street, A striking feature of this establishment (located between Bush and Pine streets) is the “Blue Front” which has been added to the building to distinguish it from its sprroundings and to impress the public that this is where clothingis being RETAILED AT WHOLESALE PRICES. a village postmaster and a deputy county | surveyor, of his study of SBhakespeare and Burns and a copy of Blackstone found by chance in a barrel of refuse, and of his ro- mantic courtshiv of Ann Rutledge, and